My Cat Girl Neighbor Is Impossible to Understand

Chapter 24: Chapter 24 - Growing Distance

Another morning came.

The sun raised above the sleepy town, the birds whistled from the telephone lines, and gradually the streets were crowded with children going to school.

Generally speaking, the time when Sui went out coincided with the one when Yuiko left the house.

This became their unwritten rule, and even though neither of them agreed with it consciously, they still managed to leave the house simultaneously and go to school together.

Today Sui stood by the front door and grabbed the handle.

"I probably should leave a bit earlier."

He didn’t know why he had such thoughts.

Probably because he wanted some time to clear his head from this weird mood which was settled in his chest since yesterday.

He went outside.

The air was fresh.

Sui was just starting his way when he suddenly heard a familiar voice coming behind him.

"Sui..."

He turned around and saw Yuiko standing near him.

She held her school bag in her hands, and her black ears quivered a bit. She smiled.

"Good morning."

"...Morning."

Everything was ok.

Then silence.

Generally speaking, Yuiko pointed out a flower blooming at the edge of the sidewalk or asked Sui about a book that he was reading.

And Sui told her about the cat that he saw yesterday.

But today...

Both of them had nothing to say.

Their steps reverberated in the silence.

Yuiko looked towards Sui.

She was absolutely peaceful as usual.

But...

Something was not right.

She couldn’t understand what.

Had she done something wrong?

Yesterday’s talk unexpectedly repeated in her mind.

"Talking about books with someone was fun."

Was it that what upset him?

No...

Why?

Because Ren was only her partner for their class assignment.

Still...

The thought was stuck in her mind.

"Sui?"

"Hm?"

"Are you... tired?"

He smiled.

"I’m ok."

"...I see."

Once again, silence fell.

Yuiko lowered her gaze.

Her tail didn’t wag freely as it usually did when they were going to school.

She wanted to ask him why he was upset.

She wanted to say that she liked being with him more than talking about books with anyone else.

But she couldn’t.

When they reached the gates of the school, neither of them said many words.

Classes started.

Literature teacher asked each pair to work on their presentations further.

Ren rolled his chair near Yuiko.

"I found another article yesterday."

He gave her a notebook.

"I think that we will use this part."

Yuiko smiled.

"Thank you."

Nearby Sui without realizing it looked at them.

Ren talked eagerly, Yuiko listened and took notes. Both of them looked very involved in their work.

Haru who sat beside Sui noted his gaze.

"...Again?"

Sui blinked.

"What?"

"You have looked there five times."

"I haven’t counted."

"I have."

Sui sighed.

"I’m just making sure that they work."

Haru was ready to laugh.

"Of course, you do."

"..."

The teacher suddenly called Sui’s name.

"Aoyama."

He immediately stood up.

"Yes?"

"Would you read the next paragraph?"

Realizing that he hadn’t been listening to the teacher, Sui quickly glanced at the textbook.

Some classmates giggled.

Sui was embarrassed too.

After classes, Haru pushed Sui slightly with his elbow.

"You have never missed the lecture before."

"I was distracted."

"I know."

"By what?"

Sui didn’t know.

Lunch hour started.

As usual, Sui brought his lunch to the roof.

As usual, Yuiko was supposed to be waiting there.

But today...

She didn’t come.

Sui sat alone on the usual bench.

The wind was unusually cold.

Meanwhile, in the classroom...

Ren smiled at Yuiko.

"Want to eat here?"

She hesitated.

"...Actually..."

She glanced at the door of the classroom.

She wanted to say that she usually eats her lunch somewhere else.

But having thought of how silent Sui had been this morning...

She wasn’t sure whether he needed company today.

"...Sure."

They ate lunch quietly.

They only talked about books, classes, and their presentation.

They didn’t say anything else.

But still...

From the window of the roof Sui looked below into the yard.

He saw Yuiko smiling slightly because of Ren’s joke.

It was just a small smile.

But...

Why did his chest tighten once again?

He looked away at once.

"...Why?"

He didn’t understand it.

Yuiko had the right to make new friends.

Seeing her smile must have made him glad.

But why did it hurt?

In the afternoon school ended earlier than usually.

The students rushed out from the classroom.

Sui put everything into his backpack.

Before he managed to get up, Ren addressed Yuiko again.

"Should we go to the library one more time?"

Yuiko looked hesitantly.

"...Maybe for a bit."

"Great."

Having gone out of the classroom, Yuiko glanced back.

"Sui..."

He lifted his gaze.

"I’m going to be late again."

He smiled kindly.

"Don’t worry."

"Good luck with your presentation."

"...Thank you."

She smiled slightly and went away.

Sui watched till she disappeared in the corridor.

Only then did he quietly lift his backpack and started walking home.

The way seemed to be longer than yesterday.

It wasn’t because the road had changed.

But the girl who turned an ordinary walk into something special stopped accompanying him.

Neither Sui nor Yuiko realized it.

Both of them tried to protect the other from their feelings by remaining silent.

But instead...

The silence between them grew wider.

The following day, the warm spring wind blew through the school yard as students took their lunch break. Cherry blossom petals drifted around in the air, resting on benches and paths, then being blown off of them again.

For everybody else, it seemed to be just another regular day.

For Haru Fujimoto, something was clearly not right.

Haru stood near the classroom window, watching Sui walk away with his lunch.

"...He went up to the rooftop again."

As usual, Yuiko would leave a minute after him.

This time, she stayed seated and studied with Ren.

Haru sighed.

"You two are hopeless."

One of his friends glanced at him.

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"Nope."

He just smiled to himself.

Up on the rooftop, Sui sat on his usual bench, alone.

He opened his lunchbox.

Yuiko used to make him smile without even trying.

She would sneakily put a piece of fried chicken in his lunch since she knew he loved it.

She would sometimes point to a cloud in the sky and tell him that it looked like a cat.

They would sit there in comfortable silence and never say anything.

But now...

All the silence did was remind him that she wasn’t there.

He sighed involuntarily.

"...This rice tastes different."

Of course it didn’t.

It was just as usual as always.

Back in the classroom, Yuiko was sitting with Ren.

He was proposing yet another idea for their literature project.

"I think we should try comparing the development of the main character with the ending, that way our presentation will become more interesting."

Yuiko nodded.

"I think so too."

Ren smiled.

"You really like books, don’t you?"

"...I do."

"I can see."

She smiled politely.

But then, without thinking, she looked towards the classroom door.

"..."

Ren noticed that.

"Waiting for somebody?"

Yuiko quickly shook her head.

"N-No."

"...Just looking outside."

He didn’t push it further.

He just went back to writing notes.

But...

Yuiko couldn’t stop wondering whether Sui had his lunch.

She really hoped he wasn’t alone.

After school, Haru was standing near the school gates with his little sister.

The moment Aki saw him, she yelled joyfully.

"Big Brother!"

"There you are."

She came up to him, carrying her schoolbag with both her hands.

As they began walking home, she told him all about her day.

"Our teacher praised my picture today."

"That’s good."

"And I got full marks in my spelling test!"

"I knew it."

She held her chest proudly.

Then she raised her head and asked him.

"...Big Brother."

"Hm?"

"Where’s Big Brother Sui?"

"He’s already gone home."

"And Big Sis Yuiko?"

Haru looked at the school building.

"They’re... busy."

Aki frowned.

"...Busy?"

"They’ve barely met each other this week."

Haru looked at his sister in astonishment.

"You’ve noticed it?"

She nodded.

"Of course."

"They always walk home together."

"They always smile."

"But now..."

She whispered.

"They look sad."

Haru’s smile faded.

Even a middle-school student had noticed.

That meant that...

These two were fooling nobody.

As they reached home, Aki placed her schoolbag in the living-room.

She went to the kitchen right away.

"Mom!"

"Can I make cookies today?"

"If you clean up afterwards."

"I will!"

While preparing the dough, Aki became thoughtful.

"Mom."

"Hm?"

"Do you think people can disagree without arguing?"

Her mother smiled.

"Sometimes."

"Especially if both of them keep their true reasons for disagreeing to themselves."

Aki slowly stirred the batter.

"...That seems difficult."

"It is."

In the evening, Haru got a message from Sui.

Sui: Do you have the math homework answers?

Haru laughed.

That’s not why Sui messaged him.

Haru knew his friend well enough.

So he didn’t reply to Sui with the homework answers.

Instead, he wrote something else.

Haru: How’s Yuiko?

Several minutes went by.

At last...

Sui: Why are you asking me?

Haru smiled.

Exactly.

He wrote back.

Haru: You tell me.

There was a long pause.

Then...

Sui: She’s fine.

Good.

Then why do you sound so miserable?

Sui never answered.

Instead, he logged off.

Haru placed his phone on the table and leaned back in his chair.

"So that’s it."

He looked out of the window to the evening sky.

"Sui..."

"You’ve finally fallen in love."

He chuckled quietly.

"The funny thing is..."

"You still have absolutely no idea."

Next door, Yuiko was sitting at her desk and reading an open book.

She had been looking at the same page for almost ten minutes.

She was not reading.

All her thoughts drifted to Sui.

Did she inadvertently offend his feelings?

Was he angry?

Or...

Had she imagined it all?

She picked up her phone.

She wanted to send a message to Sui.

"Are you okay?"

But after several seconds...

She silently closed her phone.

"...Maybe tomorrow."

Through her window, Yuiko could see the lights turned on in Sui’s room.

Their houses were just a few meters apart from each other.

But for some reason...

The distance between their hearts seemed to be huge.

And both of them didn’t know that the people around them already saw the truth. Haru knew exactly what Sui was feeling, while Aki sensed that the two people she cherished most were suffering silently. The only two people who were oblivious to their own feelings were Sui and Yuiko themselves.